The Fall of Centro
The Fall of Centro is the battle that saw the loss of Centro in The Doomsday War. It was a serious morale blow to forces opposing the Hydran invasion of the galaxy. Hydran Advance By late (.023) AM (150,038 MYC), the Hydran virus was ravaging hundreds of systems on the outskirts of the galactic core. The UFJP Military High Command was scrambling to devise a defensive strategy in order to keep the Virus away from high population planets, such as Centro itself. After the successful defense of Exploria, a new military doctrine was adopted by the Jogorian military. The primary targets were now the Hybrid Leaders, so the Hydran chain of command would be completely broken down and the rest of their forces would ascend into chaos. However, even with this new doctrine in use, more and more worlds fell to the virus. Hundreds of millions of troops died defending races that many of them had no clue existed. For the first time since it's founding, the Federation incorporated a military draft. Billions of Jogorians were called into service and immediately shipped to the front lines. Billions more were called out of reserve and off the frontlines of the Jaonu War. However, even with the added troop strength and increased industrial sector to manufacture weapons of war at an extremely high rate, the Hydrans still managed to hit the galactic central planet; Centro. Week 1 The Centro Defense Force Recon Flotilla 7 picks up multiple hyperspace readings closing in on the planet. The estimated time to arrival is 7 hours. The CDF is mobilized and the planet's defense cannons come online. 7 hours later, the largest Hydran fleet seen to that date is encountered. 450,000 Destroyers, 1,200 Dreadnaughts and 1 Deathship enter the system. Within minutes, all but 13 CDF ships are destroyed by the overwhelming numbers of the Hydran fleet. By the end of the 8th hour, the first wave of Destroyers made landfall and started carving a path in the CDF's defenses. Millions of civilians died while scrambling to escape the metropolitan areas. 2 hours after the first destroyers made landfall, the remenants of the CDF pooled together their resources and managed to secure a long range comms relay. Even though losses were high to secure it, they managed to hold onto it long enough for an emergency signal to be sent out. 20 minutes later, the CDF central command lost contact with their troops at the comms relay. Immediately after the signal was sent, Jogorian High Command began scrambling to try and find troops to send to Centro. The 324th and 167th UFM Armies were sent along with the 12th Marine Army to help defend the planet. To defend the system, the 431st and 432nd UFN Fleets were sent. A force totalling about 155 million ground troops and Marines as well as another 300,000 ships. By the 3rd day, the CDF had suffered nearly 60% casualties. With reinforcements from the Federation arriving at the end of the week, commanders of the CDF were desperate to keep as many troops and civilians alive as they could for as long as they could. Eventually, the CDF abandoned evacuation plans and left those who made it to emergency shelters to fend for themselves. On the 5th day, all plans for a counterattack were scratched. Direct engagements with Destroyer and Dreadnaught walkers were avoided at all costs. Hit and run tactics were instead used to try and keep the resistance up before the Jogorians could arrive. Finally, the Federal Fleets arrived and cut a swath through the Hydran blockade to land ground troops. Week 2 The Jogorian Marines were sent into the urban centers of Centro to evacuate any surviving civilians. Regular army forces were sent to the hillsides to bolster the crumbling CDF positions. Just 8 days after the arrival of the Hydran fleet, more than 80 million civilians had died. The arrival of the Federal troops helped to bolster morale, but it didn't seem to slow the Hydran advance much. Within a day of arriving, the Federation lost more than 30,000 troops to the Hydran onslaught. Even with the advanced Jogorian tactics, the allied troops seemed to lose more and more ground to the ever growing Hydran force. By the 12th day, the order to evacuate the planet had been given after extreme casualties had been inflicted. The new problem was how to get everyone off the planet. Soon, a plan was devised to take 4 of the 14 Titans in high orbit and bring their guns to bear on the Destroyer's and Dreadnaughts on the planet's surface while allied ground forces retreated to clearings where the large transport ships could land and evacuate millions at a time. The evacuation plans went well at first, but soon the Hydrans adapted. They burrowed underground and hit the evacuation sites directly, managing to destroy several transports as well as millions more soldiers and civilians. To prevent even more naval losses, President 'Daru gave the heartbreaking order to abandon the remaining forces on the ground. Aftermath Though Centro fell fast, the lessons learned in fighting the Hydrans proved very valuable to allied forces in future battles. Even with this new knowledge, billions of lives were lost as the entire center of the galaxy fell to the Hydrans ever-advancing forces. Galactic panic was at an all time high, and trillions of Jogorians were crying out for the Federation to bolster their defenses before the Hydrans could advance further into the galaxy.